Bulgarian Church marks 80 years since end of schism, recognition of its autocephaly

Sofia, February 24, 2025

St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. Photo: Wikipedia     

His Holiness Patriarch Daniil and the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church issued a statement on Saturday in honor of the 80th anniversary of the lifting of the imposed schism of 1872–1945 and the recognition of the Bulgarian Church’s renewed autocephaly.

On February 18, 1870, Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire issued a decree restoring the Bulgarian Church’s ancient autocephaly, thus satisfying its people’s long-hoped for independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. This was rejected by Constantinople, which led a council declaring the Bulgarian Church schismatic in September of that year. The 150th anniversary of this de facto autocephaly was celebrated in 2020

The new Synodal address emphasizes the contemporary relevance of this historical achievement, particularly in light of current challenges to Church and interstate relations. It calls for preserving spiritual and cultural unity while stressing that autocephaly represents not isolation but rather mature communion between Local Orthodox Churches. The statement concludes by urging Bulgarians to honor their ancestors’ legacy of faith and self-sacrifice by protecting and valuing this hard-won ecclesiastical independence within the broader Orthodox communion.

The document stresses that everything enjoyed in modern Bulgaria—both the free, independent state and the autocephalous Orthodox Church—stems from their predecessors’ deep faith in God and Divine justice, as well as their passionate defense of Orthodox spiritual and cultural identity.

Read the Synodal statement:

Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord,

In the calendar of our Orthodox Church, there are days and dates that each year return us to important and significant events from its millennial and tumultuous history. They keep our memory of the past alive, which in turn serves as an unchanging guide in making the right decisions for our present and future. We mark these dates with special solemnity, with gratitude to the All-Merciful God and our worthy ancestors, whose work finds its continuation and fulfillment in us and our present day. Among these dates is the twenty-second day of February—the day when in 1945 the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, under the name of Bulgarian Exarchate, received yet another—historically the third—recognition of its autocephaly.

Looking from the perspective of time, the decision taken on this day crowns the century-long and uneven battle of fighters for our spiritual and ecclesiastical independence, which led to the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1870, justly characterized by historians as a “Bulgarian proto-state”—a predecessor and preparation for the restoration of the Bulgarian state. The circumstances surrounding the regrettable “Bulgarian schism” and all historical details related to it have long been studied and are well known. With time, the sharpness of debates around it increasingly gives way to a sober assessment of this severe conflict. For us, as an Orthodox nation, we forever retain the memory that our struggle for spiritual freedom and ecclesiastical autocephaly preceded our struggle for political independence, rather than following from it, as usually happens in the history of the Orthodox East. The revival of the Orthodox Bulgarian people follows a different logic and sequence.

The recognition of our Church’s autocephaly precisely on February 22, 1945—at a time when, after a series of unfortunate national catastrophes, the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Exarchate was significantly limited—is the clearest testimony to the real reasons and motives behind the Church schism imposed on us in 1872.

The joy of our ancestors on this day exactly 80 years ago was great and sincere. “The schism no longer exists. The graceful communion... has been restored. The autocephaly of our 1000-year-old Church has been blessed and recognized”—with these words full of joyous celebration, the members of the Bulgarian Church delegation in Constantinople—the ever-memorable Metropolitan Boris of Nevrokop, Metropolitan Sophronius of Tarnovo, and Bishop Andrew of Velichi, informed the Bulgarian Exarch Stefan about the lifting of the schism, the recognition of our Church’s autocephaly, and the celebration of the first joint Holy Liturgy in the Patriarchal church in Phanar.

For us today, regardless of the entire dramatic history and all vicissitudes in the fate of our people and our Orthodox Church, the old, well-known truth remains valid and true with all its force – that the real strength of our Orthodox people lies only in its spiritual and cultural unity, in preserving national memory and recognizing the need for continuity and constant building upon what our ancestors achieved. What they won with so much effort and self-sacrifice remains forever as an eternal testament to generations. Their spirit of uncompromising nature and will for freedom and dignified life must live in us too, if we want to be worthy heirs and continuators of their works.

The time in which we live is a time of new severe trials and challenges to human unity. The crisis in interstate and inter-Church relations affects us directly, undermining the foundations and principles of our existence as Church and God’s people. Division and opposition are visible at every level, threatening with destruction and doom what our predecessors achieved. In such times and in the face of these trials, we need their example even more, from studying and faithfully following those principles and ideals that guided them in their life and actions. Everything we have and enjoy today—the free and independent Bulgarian state and our autocephalous Orthodox Church—is the fruit of their faith and trust in God and His eternal justice, from their zeal in defending the spiritual and cultural identity and dignity of our Orthodox people, and from their self-sacrificing struggle in pursuing these higher goals and aspirations. Let us protect and value our autocephaly, because autocephaly does not mean isolation and division, but graceful and canonical communion between Local Orthodox Churches. Autocephaly is a measure of the maturity of a Local Church in its inseparable communion with all other Local Churches, members of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

May God’s love, His peace, and His great mercy be with us all!

Happy and blessed anniversary!

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